Our Story

It began in failure. I had been laid off at the end of 2010 from an aerospace company that I had enjoyed working at. I had spent the last few weeks thinking about my own company, and what it might look like. I had machinations of building an airplane that I had sketched up one day at lunch. Or, maybe, after I finished my commercial pilot's license, I could market myself as a pilot (at the time I had no idea what the regulations said about this). Either way, I had a name: NX, which I had pulled after seeing a model of the Hughes H-1 Racer.

I knew that it would take time for the idea to become viable, and I needed money. And a firm idea. I took a job as a systems engineer at a certain government space agency to pay the bills and hone some skills. The idea of a company remained, however. As it turned out, I had a friend, Mike, from commercial flight school that was also interested in starting something. With my experience in mapping, I had done some preliminary research on starting an airborne mapping company. This was a false start. The initial investment was beyond anything that we knew we could afford, or get investment in. Mike and I agreed to abandon the idea, and look for something cheaper and more viable.

Then, one night, there was a breakthrough. Talking with Mike we were looking for a way to decrease the cost of flying, while maintaining a safety factor. Mike wanted to get into aircraft management, but after running the numbers it too looked unfeasable. That was, until Mike said "why don't we write some software to do it?"

That was it. That was the Idea.

We went to work on it immediately. Fortunately we had already recruited another friend of mine, Lee. Lee had the necessary background in computers and programming to at least get us started. Lee, Mike, and I worked for several months to develop the initial plan and made some progress. But it still took another independent contractor to complete the site. Finally, 5 years after first conceptualizing it, NX Aviation launched Orville Aircraft Management Solutions on March 1, 2015. The team is still working on several updates to the program.

Meanwhile, NX Aviation is continuing to expand. Its recently announced that it will begin buying aircraft to rent to flight schools and air charter operations, and is able and capable of helping your research and development programs. There are still more ideas in development; this is only the beginning. The NX team has already shown its perseverance. Let us serve you.

News

DoT Law Enforcement Operations Drone

NX Aviation has been awarded a contract with the Department of Transportation to provide a single DJI Matrice drone with software for law enforcement operations in New England.This is the second government contract awarded to NX Aviation within the last 6 weeks.

Air Aloft Drone Piloting School

NX Aviation has completed the first class of the Drone Pilot School in conjunction with Washington College’s Center for the Environment and Society and Air Aloft, LLC in Easton, MD. The school saw the graduation of 13 students who are now able to go on and take their Part 107 licensing test. This is the first such class conducted for Washington College, and there are already plans to create a recurring ‘academy’ out of this program. NX Aviation continues to support these plans with future instruction.

DoE Aircraft Weight and Balance Trade Study

NX Aviation has been awarded a contract from the Department of Energy. NX Aviation will conduct weight and balance studies on a number of different aircraft provided by the customer. The work done on this contract will help the Department of Energy select their next-generation research aircraft.

This is the first government contract awarded to NX Aviation, and will enable the temporary hire of one engineer. The first award tends to open the door for multiple awards, and therefore has the potential to enable the creation of more jobs.

Our Work

Past and Current Projects

ParaTrees Precision Planting Drone...

DoE Aircraft Weight and Balance Trade Study...

Air Aloft Drone Piloting School...

Piper Arrow Flight Test Demonstration...

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Our Skills

Varied Flight Test Experience

The NX team has worked on vehicles ranging from small unmanned systems to suborbital rockets to large military turboprops.

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Hardware, Electrical and Software Support

The team has a range of talents ranging from mechanical and electrical engineering and design to Software development and test.

Total Integration and Testing Support

Give your product the best shot at success with a team that has the knowledge to integrate and test your product on whatever platform you determine is best.

Flight Schools

NX Aviation takes that guesswork out of it by offering a series of aircraft designed to fit your training needs. Expand and Contract your fleet as necessary to fit with the existing market.